Austria re-imposes controls on its border with Hungary

Migrants walk past graffiti at the port city of Piraeus, Greece on Monday, April 25, 2016. Around 3,500 migrants remain in Piraeus using tents, a warehouse and a terminal passenger building for shelter, as over 50,000 stranded refugees and migrants remain in the country. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (The Associated Press)

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An Afghan boy plays between tents as the Merchant Marine Ministry is seen in the background at the port city of Piraeus, Greece, Monday, April 25, 2016. Around 3,500 migrants remain in Piraeus living in tents, a warehouse and a terminal passenger building, as over 50,000 stranded refugees and migrants remain in the country. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (The Associated Press)

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Afghan migrants play cards outside their tents under a bridge at the port city of Piraeus, Greece, on Monday, April 25, 2016. Around 3,500 migrants remain at Piraeus living in tents, a warehouse and a terminal passenger building, as over 50,000 stranded refugees and migrants remain in the country. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (The Associated Press)

VIENNA – Austria has re-imposed controls on its border with Hungary, with police checking vehicles at the main regular crossings and soldiers patrolling other stretches of the border.

Police say the controls that began Monday are meant to ensure that no one crosses illegally and to prevent the smuggling of migrants into Austria and other EU nations. They have reported more such smuggling attempts into Austria since countries along the Balkan migration route closed their borders to migrants earlier this year.

Before that, tens of thousands of migrants seeking better lives in prosperous EU countries came through Hungary and then through Austria until Hungary sealed its borders last September with razor-wire fences.

Austrian police did not say how long the new border controls would remain.